A director like Carpenter is responsible for the color timing in the sense that a director is responsible for everything else in the movie from the acting to the catering. Obviously they delegate just like your boss delegates to you. You wouldn't say your boss does your job but ultimately your boss is responsible for it.

As the Director of Photography Cundey was tasked in achieving that color. His profession is knowing how to achieve that color. He's the best man for the job, even over Carpenter. That's why Carpenter hired him.

It should be noted that the original color timing Cundey did on the Halloween DVD is probably a bit over saturated compared to theatrical prints. This was the first time Cundey did digital colorizing (as opposed to in a lab) and it was on small tube TVs. They somewhat over compensated for the analog format which was common at the time as VHS and NTSC has a much weaker color spectrum.

We'll have to see how this HD remastering turns out. Cundey is more familiar with the digital process now, they don't need to overcompensate for bad home video and a more true to film color is much more possible now

Thanks for the clarification. What caused me to ask the question is that Carpenter mentioned on the older commentary track is that his film owes a lot to Dario's film SUSPIRIA, which made me wonder if it was in fact his decision to ask Mr. Cundey to use specific colors and hues for specific scenes during post.

As for the confirmation that Mr. Cundey is in fact personally overseeing this hi-def transfer is fantastic news indeed! Time to sell my AB copy

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